LeConte Stewart: Depression Era Art Utah Museum of Fine Arts • www.umfa.utah.edu Lesson Plans for Educators • October 12, 2011 Table of Contents Page Contents 2 Image List 3 About the Artist LeConte Stewart 4 Great White Throne, Zion National Park 5 City and Nature Themed Collages Lesson Written by Jennie LaFortune 7 The Day Before Christmas 8 Creating Storyboards/Expressive Color Lesson Written by Jennie LaFortune 11 The Victorian 12 Treasured Places Drawings Lesson Written by Jennie LaFortune 14 The Victorian, North Salt Lake City 15 Creating Mood in Painting Lesson Written by Jennie LaFortune 17 The Green Front 18 Synecdoche Collages Lesson Written by Jennie LaFortune 20 Private Car 21 Realism & Escapism in Depression Era Art Written by Jennie LaFortune Lesson Evening for Educators is funded in part by the StateWide Art Partnership and the Professional Outreach Programs in the Schools (POPS) through the Utah State Office of Education 1 LeConte Stewart: Depression Era Art Utah Museum of Fine Arts • www.umfa.utah.edu Lesson Plans for Educators • October 12, 2011 Image List 1. LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American Great White Throne, Zion National Park , 1927 Oil Gift of William N. Hite 1979.036 2. LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American The Day Before Christmas , c. 1929 Oil on panel Gift of the Artist 1962.147 3. LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American The Victorian , 1934 Pencil on Paper Purchased with funds from the Friends of the Art Museum 1976.062 4. LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American The Victorian, North Salt Lake City , 1927 Oil on board Gift of Marilyn H. Hite in memory of Mattie Wattis and William H. Harris 1979.035 5. LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American The Green Front , 1935 Oil on canvas University of Utah Collection X.037 6. LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American Private Car, 1937 Oil on canvas Courtesy of the Church History Museum 2 LeConte Stewart: Depression Era Art Utah Museum of Fine Arts • www.umfa.utah.edu Lesson Plans for Educators • October 12, 2011 About the Artist LeConte Stewart 1891-1990 "Especially in his paintings from the Depression years, Stewart achieved a bleak clarity of vision that has been compared to Hopper's." ~ Wallace Stegner LeConte Stewart was one of the most accomplished and beloved artists working in Utah during the twentieth century. After studying art at the University of Utah, Stewart traveled east in 1913 to train with a number of important artists. Under the instruction of John Carlson, whose technique and philosophy Stewart incorporat - ed into his own work, he learned not only the mechanics of painting, but also how to convey emotion in paint. Stewart returned to Utah in 1914 to paint the small towns, farms, and deserts that had captured his imagina - tion as a young boy growing up in Glenwood, Utah. He accepted commissions for murals, jobs at commercial lettering companies, and continued painting landscapes through the 1920s. Confronted in 1929 with the demoralizing effects of the Great Depression and high unemployment in Utah, Stewart left the peace and solitude he found in nature to document the human toll of the crisis. In his depic - tions of the West's vernacular architecture -storefronts, gas stations, hotels, old homes, and canneries- Stewart used minimal forms and the expressive properties of line, mass, and hue to convey the devastating impact of the Depression. Stripped to the essentials, Stewart's paintings from this period evoke not only his own person - al history of loss (five siblings and his mother), but also that of the nation. During this bleak time, Stewart taught high school and painted billboards to support himself and his family. By the time Stewart joined the faculty of the University of Utah's Art Department, where he served as chair from 1938 to 1956, he had come into his mature style. His paintings, at once sweeping and intimate, reveal his cogent vision and dedication to his craft. In the classroom, Stewart taught composition, the use of hue and value, and the importance of eliminating distracting, extraneous details to convey the mood of a scene. Preferring the outdoors to the studio, Stewart could often be found painting with his students in nearby fields or on the foothills of the Wasatch. Only outdoors could he teach them to find purple in a shadow, silver in sage, and how to work with the ever-changing light. An important part of his work with students was teaching the process of composing a painting. A composition began with the selection of a scene and sketches in pencil and then oil, which served as the foundation for the final painting in the studio. Until his death in 1990, Stewart painted or sketched nearly every day. Believing that a landscape artist must paint outdoors, Stewart could be found teaching or often painting alone on the roadsides or fields near his home. He preserved on canvas the rural scenes that he revered for a lifetime. 3 LeConte Stewart: Depression Era Art Utah Museum of Fine Arts • www.umfa.utah.edu Lesson Plans for Educators • October 12, 2011 Great White Throne, Zion National Park "Painting the Great White Throne is a little bit like painting El Capitan in California, or painting Yellowstone Falls," said Donna Poulton. "It was the one image that everybody was overwhelmed by when they went to Zion. ... Some cliffs are so high and narrow that it's hard to get perspective. I think they were able to stand back from the GreatWhite Throne and take everything in, so every artist that came to Zion did it." 1 Beautiful landscapes and symbolic environments characterize LeConte Stewart’s work. His trade - mark broad expanses of Utah land are varied and unique. One such work takes Stewart’s usual set - tings of Northern Utah, to the South; featuring the massive stone creations in Zion National Park. This work is entitled Great White Throne, Zion National Park, which captures the pristine sur - roundings of Southern Utah’s backdrop. Obvious contrast of white stone against the dis - tinctive red rock illustrates nature in grand form. Why does such a place draw wonder and the artist’s need to portray such potential? While some of Stewart’s landscapes show signs of human life, such as homes, railroads, or people, Great White Throne contains no sign of such existence, allowing signs of time to diminish. The endless beauty and lay - ers of time shine in Stewart’s work through color, perspective, and scenery. Stewart’s composition was created on the eve of the Great Depression; a time when uncertainty and financial difficulties were beginning. Contrasting this reality against the majesty of Zion National Park allows nature to stand supreme. National parks were only established about ten years prior in 1919; symbolizing the budding potential of America amid a future depression. 1 LeConte Stewart (1891-1990), American (http://www.standard.net/topics/features/2009/07/10/artistic-visions-utahs- Great White Throne, Zion National Park , 1927 Oil canyons-and-deserts) Gift of William N. Hite 1979.036 4 Great White Throne, Zion National Park City and Nature Themed Collages Lesson written by Jennie LaFortune Objectives: 1. Students will learn to analyze a painting’s mood, balance, rhythm, and harmony. 2. Students will identify a medium (music) connecting to the theme of nature. 3. Students will understand how historical background adds depth to a painting. 4. Students will communicate their understanding of concepts and meaning in their own expressive collage. Duration: approximately 1½ hours or two 45 minute class periods. Lesson may be stretched for greater complexity and depth. Materials: Image of Great White Throne, Zion National Park 1927 by LeConte Stewart Magazines (to cut images and pictures) Cardstock Glue-stick Musical selections: “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates (1895) version found online here: http://pl.st/s/663351313 “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin (1934) selection found online here: http://pl.st/s/1422353 Concepts/Key Terms: Mood - an overall feeling or emotion, often equated with expression. Balance - the way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability; a pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts in a design or composition. Harmony - a way of combining elements of art to accent their similarities and bind the picture parts into a whole. It is often achieved through the use of repetition and simplicity. In music harmony occurs when sounds complement each other. Rhythm - a visual tempo or beat; design that refers to a repetition of elements to produce the look and feel of movement. Collage - a picture or design created by adhering flat elements (newspaper, text, illustrations, photographs, etc.) to a flat surface. Collage was originally a French word from coller , meaning “to paste.” Examples: Francis Picabia (French, 1879-1953), L'Oeil Cacodylate, 1921, oil on canvas, with collaged photographs, postcards and other papers, 148.6 x 117.4 cm, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. See Dada and deltiology. 5 Activity (rhythmic collages): To introduce the painting, ask students to close their eyes as you describe the rich setting (using imagery and detail) of Great White Throne, Zion National Park by LeConte Stewart. Ask students to open their eyes and show them Stewart’s actual piece. Listen to students’ remarks as how similar or different their mental picture was from the actual piece. Converse with the class as to possible rea - sons why this may be. Let this springboard the discussion into how important imagination and individual per - ception are when looking at a picture, listening to a story, or learning (this idea will be revisited later in the lesson). As students view Stewart’s composition briefly give a background sketch highlighting the artistry as well as the historical background.